A couple say they were told to pay £170 so that their car could be forensically examined after it was stolen in a burglary at their Bristol home.

Farran Johnson and Ashley Bryan had already tracked down the Vauxhall Corsa themselves - and say they had to wait for three hours for police to arrive at the scene.

Then they claim that the police community support officers who arrived told them that, if they wanted the car to be taken away for forensic examination, they would have to pay the £170 cost of impounding it themselves.

Thieves broke into the home of Farran, 23, Ashley, 28, and their four-month-old baby son Marley in St George while they slept on Sunday night.

They stole items including an iPad, cash, a wallet, handbags, coats and the keys to the family's black Vauxhall Corsa, which was then used as a getaway car.

“I was in bits,” said Ms Johnson.

“The feeling of someone being next to our bedroom door while we were sleeping with the baby meant I found it hard to sleep the next night.

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"Obviously they know where we live. I can’t believe it has happened, I feel really violated.”

In the aftermath of the burglary, the couple took to Facebook to see whether there had been any similar crimes in the area in recent weeks.

They found numerous people who had suffered similar break-ins and thefts in the last week — and saw that their cars were often recovered in an area of Speedwell.

Mr Bryan needs the car for his work as a self-employed carpenter so, rather than wait for the police, on Monday evening the couple took their baby and went in Mr Bryan’s brother’s car to search for it themselves.

Police investigate a stolen car in Kingswood. (Image: Dave Betts)

They claim they found it less than a mile from their home within 30 minutes in Emra Close, Speedwell.

The car still had all the stolen goods still inside – bar £20 – and a chisel, which did not belong to Mr Bryan, on the floor of the passenger seat.

Ms Johnson claims they called the police and had to wait three hours before two PCSOs arrived.

They say the PCSOs told them they could take the car home, rather than hold it for forensic testing.

The couple say they asked why the police did not want to check the car for fingerprints, only to be told it would cost them £170 for the Vauxhall to be impounded overnight, so that forensic investigators could look at it the following day.

The couple declined and decided to park the car at Mr Bryan’s father’s house.

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Ms Johnson claims the PCSOs were even reluctant to take the chisel – which she believes could have been used in the burglary – to test for fingerprints.

“I’m just a bit disheartened by it all really,” she said. “They weren’t even interested in how we found it ourselves.

“I don’t understand why it’s not on their agenda to catch these people.”

Ms Johnson says she later spoke to a police officer, who told her the car should have been kept on Emra Close for forensics to check over the next day.

She expects it will cost between £700 and £800 to replace the locks on the car.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police responded: “We were contacted about a car theft at 7.30am on Monday morning, which had taken place overnight.

“Officers attended the address shortly before 11am to take details of the incident.

“We were called again at 7.11pm last night by the victims, who had located their stolen car on Emra Close.

“Just after 9pm, community support officers attended the location and advice was given to the victims that the car would need to be recovered for forensic analysis. The victims wanted to take the vehicle home and wait for the forensics team to attend, which they did this morning.